Randburg FC loses to Chiefs at the Engen Cup quarter final stage

Randburg Football Club (the Blue Army) U18’s 2025 Gauteng Engen Cup tournament journey ended in the quarter finals as they lost 1–0 to Kaizer Chiefs (Amakhosi) after an impressive group stage performance at Marks Park.

To start their journey, the Blue Army faced off with Mamelodi Sundowns in an opening group C fixture and went down 1–0. Desperate for points they took on SAFA-Transnet School of Excellence and won 2–0. The group was tight with Sundowns leading with six points. The local boys, along with Kathorus Hyper Academy, were both on three points. The teams faced each other in a must win match, and decider of second place in the group.

Kathorus had the upper hand early in the game. They applied pressure to Randburg, who seemed to be struggling to get out of their half, but the Blue Army started to find their way back into the match, with Sihle Nkosi and Valentino Makhubela controlling the middle field. They were using the flanks well, with Patrick Chisungu acting as a thorn in Kathorus’ defence on the left-hand side.

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Randburg looked dangerous most of the half, but couldn’t score. In the second stanza, Randburg made a few changes and injected speed and power into their attacking line with Jason Oliver and Sipho Muntanga.

The substitutions caused all sorts of problems for Kathorus, as a few chances fell on Muntanga, but he just wasn’t clinical in front of goals. Later in the half, however, he got away from the defenders and placed the ball at the back of the net, giving the Blue Army the 1–0 lead they desperately needed.

Kathorus kept pushing for an equaliser, but could not break the disciplined Randburg defence. The Blue Army edged out Kathorus Hyper Academy 1-0 to book their spot in the quarter finals.

After their second-place finish, Randburg faced 2024 champions Kaizer Chiefs in the quarter finals. The much-anticipated encounter started slow. As expected, Chiefs enjoyed possession and rotated the ball well. Randburg were happy to sit back and close spaces. Despite not having the ball, the Randburg boys created more opportunities to score in the first half, but were disappointed by poor finishes in front of goal.

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Kaizer Chiefs continued to keep the ball, trying to break the Randburg defence. Later in the half, Randburg’s defence cracked, and were punished by Amakhosi who took it to the net, eliminating the Blue Army from the tournament.

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